This invention is related to an apparatus for gathering, storing, and displaying information that will assist a golfer in playing the game of golf.
Golfers are typically assisted in planning play and in keeping score by the use of a scorecard which lists the yardage, par value, and the handicap for each hole in a golf course and also provides a place for the golfer to enter the number of strokes taken in a hole by each player in a group after play of the hole is completed. Some players add to this a separate tally of the number of putts required on each hole, but the typical scorecard is not designed to record this information.
After a golfer has teed off, he or she will need to estimate the remaining distance to the pin. This distance is an important factor in club selection. Improper club selection for a particular distance may cause a golfer to overshoot or undershoot the green. Some scorecards add to the items listed above a map of the course that may indicate doglegs, water hazards, bunkers, and areas that are out of bounds. However, if the golfer is not at the tee or the green, the scorecard cannot tell him where he is and how far he has to go to reach the pin.
It would thus be useful for a golfer to have a way of determining the distance from a present lie to the pin. However, after teeing off, a golfer can only make a visual estimate of that distance, sometimes assisted by fixed distance markers. For example, it is common to plant a tree or place some other recognizable marker 150 yards from a measuring point on the green. Such a fixed marker is not changed for different pin placements, and it is only a matter of coincidence when a golfer's lie is near the distance marker.